READ THIS PART: My nymphomaniac girlfriend emigrated from Cuba when she was 5, so she has both Cuban and American citizenship. I'm traveling with her to Cuba. Due to the embargo with Cuba, US residents have a difficult time shipping things like letters and gifts to their Cuban relatives and friends (e.g. paying to send a box to Canada, then having it sent to Cuba, then having the Cuban residents pay to receive it--Cuba's are poor, thx communism). So, U.S. State Department-approved travel agencies like Insight Cuba decided to make money with this. They pay for your flight roundtrip and taxi in exchange for space/weight in your luggage. If you travel to Cuba with 10lbs of your stuff and 40lbs of mail, the travel agency will give you a free flight and taxi. All you have to do is drop off the mail when you get to the airport. My gf's family does this every time they go to Cuba. #swag #radlife

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOOOOOWWW, the political side of this:Much has been written about Haiti being a failed state in the wake of its devastating earthquake. But just to its west lies another human catastrophe in the making"Fidel Castro"s Cuba.

Havana is a city of sorrow"a once elegant and prosperous capital brought to despair by 51 years of deliberate neglect and isolation. A country that has been plundered by a succession of foreign powers, homegrown dictators and mobsters imported from America now languishes in a bizarre time warp where little has changed in more than half a century.

Its people go about their daily routines bereft of consumer goods, nutritious foods, meaningful jobs or adequate housing"most of them born after the revolution that swept Castro to power in 1959 and now, thanks to rigid censorship, largely conditioned to accept their impoverished lot.

Prosperity is the last thing that comes to mind as you watch the Cuban people wearing clothing that went out of style years ago. Even shoes are washed and hung on the laundry line along with shirts and pants.

To listen to Castro"s cronies"those among the political and business elite whose loyalty is secured with perks unavailable to ordinary Cubans"the economic situation is solely the fault of the US embargo imposed after the revolution.

More thoughtful Cubans discreetly offer a different explanation: They blame Fidel"s feckless experiments with communism"his initial seizure of $25 billion worth of private property from Cubans and the nationalization of all businesses, forcing the middle class to flee to Miami; his bizarre decision to send 300,000 Cubans out of a population of only 11 million to fight wars in Africa in the 1980s; his Cold War alliance with the Russians that left his country bankrupt and saddled with antiquated technology when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Everyone in Cuba knows the status quo can"t last. But no one knows how or when it will end. The political structure, like Havana"s crumbling buildings, seems to be held up by force of habit and little else.

Fidel"s failing health has cast him into the shadow of public life. His brother Raul is now the man"struggling to maintain the family"s grip on power by taking two steps forward and one step back, permitting cellphones and Internet access to those few who can afford them. (But don"t try logging on to that den of imperialists, Facebook"it and many other sites are off-limits.)

"The Revolution," is invoked endlessly on TV channels that are so dull they make C-Span look frivolous. A recent segment on a morning news show devoted six minutes to the just-completed harvest of limes, praising it as "a triumph of socialist workers" cooperation."

There"s no advertising in Cuba"unless you count the pervasive propaganda on TV and painted on walls rallying the masses with Stalinist-style slogans that would make a North Korean cringe. Roadside billboards proclaim the 51st anniversary of "La Revolucion" with glamorous portraits of Che Guevara and assorted other "freedom fighters""all responsible in varying degrees for bringing Cuba to its knees.

Meanwhile, the average citizen of Havana goes about his mundane life, lining up at stores whose shelves are often empty, waiting in long lines for Chinese-made buses that never seem to come or trying to hitch rides in 1950s-era American cars that belch black fumes and contribute to the choking air quality that leaves the city covered in grime.

In Havana"s densely populated, older sections, less than half the homes are connected to city sewers. A majority of the buildings are decayed beyond repair.

The government claims that 96 percent of Cubans own their own homes"referring to the crowded apartments where generations of families are forced to live together. Even if that figure were true, no one seems to know who owns the outsides of their once-majestic buildings"so no one takes responsibility for maintaining them. Many fear that, when this regime eventually collapses, a wave of exiles will return from Miami and lay claim to the properties that Castro stole from them.

Cuba is in limbo, its creaky, centralized economy sustained for now by Latin America"s other delusional dictator Hugo Chavez"who sends oil in return for Cuban doctors dispatched to Caracas.

The day of reckoning for Cuba"s calamity is approaching. It will take an international effort to put this country back on its feet.

Some perspective: Between two and three hundred people (out of an average population over the decades of 18 million) died trying to breach the Berlin Wall or otherwise escape East Germany"no runner-up in the "quality-of-life" awards, even by Newsweek standards.

Well, between sixty-five and eighty thousand people (out of an average population of 8 million over the decades) have died trying to escape Castro"s Cuba, Newsweek"s "quality-of-life" winner. http://townhall.com...

I've been to Cuba several times because I'm allowed to go there. Tear down that wall Mr. Obama and free your people to travel where they choose to travel throughout the world. Albeit, advisedly with a Canadian flag sewn on their backs for safety sake.

Cubans are not malnourished and they have created their own miraculous small garden agriculture to feed the people. Necessary in part because of the cruel US sanctions that try to destroy their successful revolution against US evil that had to be rooted out. And also necessary because they are a small banana republic with few resources.

But make no mistake, when the people have excellent free education and health care of the highest quality then that puts a totally different face on poverty. (rated 1 place below US health care by the WHO)

The truth is obvious. If the US dropped the cruel and crippling sanctions against Cuba the island nation would become hugely prosperous and a testament to the need for revolution to free itself of US evil. That can never be allowed to be seen by the world.

There is the explanation for why Americans are full of hate for Cuba. As we speak the hate is again manifesting itself in the Ukraine.

At 4/16/2014 12:18:29 PM, monty1 wrote:I've been to Cuba several times because I'm allowed to go there. Tear down that wall Mr. Obama and free your people to travel where they choose to travel throughout the world. Albeit, advisedly with a Canadian flag sewn on their backs for safety sake.

Cubans are not malnourished and they have created their own miraculous small garden agriculture to feed the people. Necessary in part because of the cruel US sanctions that try to destroy their successful revolution against US evil that had to be rooted out. And also necessary because they are a small banana republic with few resources.

But make no mistake, when the people have excellent free education and health care of the highest quality then that puts a totally different face on poverty. (rated 1 place below US health care by the WHO)

The truth is obvious. If the US dropped the cruel and crippling sanctions against Cuba the island nation would become hugely prosperous and a testament to the need for revolution to free itself of US evil. That can never be allowed to be seen by the world.

There is the explanation for why Americans are full of hate for Cuba. As we speak the hate is again manifesting itself in the Ukraine.

At 4/16/2014 12:18:29 PM, monty1 wrote:I've been to Cuba several times because I'm allowed to go there. Tear down that wall Mr. Obama and free your people to travel where they choose to travel throughout the world. Albeit, advisedly with a Canadian flag sewn on their backs for safety sake.

Cubans are not malnourished and they have created their own miraculous small garden agriculture to feed the people. Necessary in part because of the cruel US sanctions that try to destroy their successful revolution against US evil that had to be rooted out. And also necessary because they are a small banana republic with few resources.

But make no mistake, when the people have excellent free education and health care of the highest quality then that puts a totally different face on poverty. (rated 1 place below US health care by the WHO)

The truth is obvious. If the US dropped the cruel and crippling sanctions against Cuba the island nation would become hugely prosperous and a testament to the need for revolution to free itself of US evil. That can never be allowed to be seen by the world.

There is the explanation for why Americans are full of hate for Cuba. As we speak the hate is again manifesting itself in the Ukraine.

Are you kidding me?

Trust me little man, if I ever tried to kid anybody it would be a propagandized American teenager just like you. However, in this case it won't be necessary as it's of no consequence what you children think anyway.

At 4/16/2014 12:18:29 PM, monty1 wrote:I've been to Cuba several times because I'm allowed to go there. Tear down that wall Mr. Obama and free your people to travel where they choose to travel throughout the world. Albeit, advisedly with a Canadian flag sewn on their backs for safety sake.

Cubans are not malnourished and they have created their own miraculous small garden agriculture to feed the people. Necessary in part because of the cruel US sanctions that try to destroy their successful revolution against US evil that had to be rooted out. And also necessary because they are a small banana republic with few resources.

But make no mistake, when the people have excellent free education and health care of the highest quality then that puts a totally different face on poverty. (rated 1 place below US health care by the WHO)

The truth is obvious. If the US dropped the cruel and crippling sanctions against Cuba the island nation would become hugely prosperous and a testament to the need for revolution to free itself of US evil. That can never be allowed to be seen by the world.

There is the explanation for why Americans are full of hate for Cuba. As we speak the hate is again manifesting itself in the Ukraine.

Are you kidding me?

Trust me little man, if I ever tried to kid anybody it would be a propagandized American teenager just like you. However, in this case it won't be necessary as it's of no consequence what you children think anyway.

At 4/16/2014 12:18:29 PM, monty1 wrote:I've been to Cuba several times because I'm allowed to go there. Tear down that wall Mr. Obama and free your people to travel where they choose to travel throughout the world. Albeit, advisedly with a Canadian flag sewn on their backs for safety sake.

Cubans are not malnourished and they have created their own miraculous small garden agriculture to feed the people. Necessary in part because of the cruel US sanctions that try to destroy their successful revolution against US evil that had to be rooted out. And also necessary because they are a small banana republic with few resources.

But make no mistake, when the people have excellent free education and health care of the highest quality then that puts a totally different face on poverty. (rated 1 place below US health care by the WHO)

The truth is obvious. If the US dropped the cruel and crippling sanctions against Cuba the island nation would become hugely prosperous and a testament to the need for revolution to free itself of US evil. That can never be allowed to be seen by the world.

There is the explanation for why Americans are full of hate for Cuba. As we speak the hate is again manifesting itself in the Ukraine.

That's on of the top three economic myths about Cuba:

1. It's the Embargo's fault.

2. If the Soviet Union hadn't fallen apart, Cuba would be a great country.

3. If the hurricanes didn't hit, Cuba would have a strong economy.

I'm sure Cuba's shitty situation has nothing to do with it being 177th in economic freedom (an index causally correlated with civil rights, clean environments, improved health and health care, lower infant-mortality rates, better education, cleaner water, and improved sanitation) or his initial seizure of $25 billion worth of private property from Cubans and the nationalization of all businesses, forcing the middle class to flee to Miami; his bizarre decision to send 300,000 Cubans out of a population of only 11 million to fight wars in Africa in the 1980s; his Cold War alliance with the Russians that left his country bankrupt and saddled with antiquated technology when the Soviet Union collapsed. Herp derp.

At 4/16/2014 12:18:29 PM, monty1 wrote:I've been to Cuba several times because I'm allowed to go there. Tear down that wall Mr. Obama and free your people to travel where they choose to travel throughout the world. Albeit, advisedly with a Canadian flag sewn on their backs for safety sake.

Cubans are not malnourished and they have created their own miraculous small garden agriculture to feed the people. Necessary in part because of the cruel US sanctions that try to destroy their successful revolution against US evil that had to be rooted out. And also necessary because they are a small banana republic with few resources.

But make no mistake, when the people have excellent free education and health care of the highest quality then that puts a totally different face on poverty. (rated 1 place below US health care by the WHO)

The truth is obvious. If the US dropped the cruel and crippling sanctions against Cuba the island nation would become hugely prosperous and a testament to the need for revolution to free itself of US evil. That can never be allowed to be seen by the world.

There is the explanation for why Americans are full of hate for Cuba. As we speak the hate is again manifesting itself in the Ukraine.

That's on of the top three economic myths about Cuba:

1. It's the Embargo's fault.

2. If the Soviet Union hadn't fallen apart, Cuba would be a great country.

3. If the hurricanes didn't hit, Cuba would have a strong economy.

I'm sure Cuba's shitty situation has nothing to do with it being 177th in economic freedom (an index causally correlated with civil rights, clean environments, improved health and health care, lower infant-mortality rates, better education, cleaner water, and improved sanitation) or his initial seizure of $25 billion worth of private property from Cubans and the nationalization of all businesses, forcing the middle class to flee to Miami; his bizarre decision to send 300,000 Cubans out of a population of only 11 million to fight wars in Africa in the 1980s; his Cold War alliance with the Russians that left his country bankrupt and saddled with antiquated technology when the Soviet Union collapsed. Herp derp.

1. If you're going to say that economic freedom is correlated with those things, you should include a citation.2. To be fair, we really didn't give him much of a choice with the Soviet Union thing.

At 4/16/2014 12:18:29 PM, monty1 wrote:I've been to Cuba several times because I'm allowed to go there. Tear down that wall Mr. Obama and free your people to travel where they choose to travel throughout the world. Albeit, advisedly with a Canadian flag sewn on their backs for safety sake.

Cubans are not malnourished and they have created their own miraculous small garden agriculture to feed the people. Necessary in part because of the cruel US sanctions that try to destroy their successful revolution against US evil that had to be rooted out. And also necessary because they are a small banana republic with few resources.

But make no mistake, when the people have excellent free education and health care of the highest quality then that puts a totally different face on poverty. (rated 1 place below US health care by the WHO)

The truth is obvious. If the US dropped the cruel and crippling sanctions against Cuba the island nation would become hugely prosperous and a testament to the need for revolution to free itself of US evil. That can never be allowed to be seen by the world.

There is the explanation for why Americans are full of hate for Cuba. As we speak the hate is again manifesting itself in the Ukraine.

That's on of the top three economic myths about Cuba:

1. It's the Embargo's fault.

2. If the Soviet Union hadn't fallen apart, Cuba would be a great country.

3. If the hurricanes didn't hit, Cuba would have a strong economy.

I'm sure Cuba's shitty situation has nothing to do with it being 177th in economic freedom (an index causally correlated with civil rights, clean environments, improved health and health care, lower infant-mortality rates, better education, cleaner water, and improved sanitation) or his initial seizure of $25 billion worth of private property from Cubans and the nationalization of all businesses, forcing the middle class to flee to Miami; his bizarre decision to send 300,000 Cubans out of a population of only 11 million to fight wars in Africa in the 1980s; his Cold War alliance with the Russians that left his country bankrupt and saddled with antiquated technology when the Soviet Union collapsed. Herp derp.

Are you seriously trying to argue down Cuba's health care system, it's lower infant mortality rate, it's high standard of education, it's clean water and high level of sanitation??? If you're not completely mad then you haven't taken the time to look at Cuba's statistical success! Compare Cuba's success with most other banana republics such as Haiti. Which all incidentally, aren't involved in a fight to survive cruel and punishing US sanctions.

Man, some Americans are so full of hate for other people that it makes them crazy!

At 4/17/2014 1:17:27 PM, monty1 wrote:Are you seriously trying to argue down Cuba's health care system, it's lower infant mortality rate, it's high standard of education, it's clean water and high level of sanitation??? If you're not completely mad then you haven't taken the time to look at Cuba's statistical success! Compare Cuba's success with most other banana republics such as Haiti. Which all incidentally, aren't involved in a fight to survive cruel and punishing US sanctions.

I just read this post to my girlfriend's family and they laughed. "They can't afford to be sanitary," her mother said. They are all from Cuba and took various routes to escape: her father to a boat with some of his military friends to Miami; her grandfather went to Spain and then to NY and eventually Florida, her aunt went to Spain, couldn't get into America, went to Mexico and got into Texas, and eventually Florida.

Man, some Americans are so full of hate for other people that it makes them crazy!

I'm in love with a Cuban woman. I hate the Cuban government, because they basically destroyed a beautiful, vibrant country, but I love Cuban food and music.

A good measure to observe if a country is good to live in or not is the amount of people entering or leaving. prior to Castro"s Stalinist coup in 1959, Cuba took in more immigrants (primarily from Europe) as a percentage of population than did the U.S., including the Ellis Island years. In the 1950"s, when Cubans were perfectly free to emigrate with all their property and U.S. visas were issued to them for the asking, fewer Cubans lived in the U.S. than Americans lived in Cuba.

"I can see that Cuba is much more impoverished than Haiti," observed Gelsy Lav"que, a recent Haitian visitor to Cuba. "People here in Cuba are all sad. I watch on Cuban TV how they say Haitians are all poor. But in reality we"re less poor than Cubans. Yes, my family is poor but we have a car. We"re never hungry and were free and generally happy. Cubans, come to Haiti, we have a country much better and happier than yours."

Some perspective: Between two and three hundred people (out of an average population over the decades of 18 million), .00138%, died trying to breach the Berlin Wall or otherwise escape East Germany"no runner-up in the "quality-of-life" awards, even by Newsweek standards.

Well, between sixty-five and eighty thousand people (out of an average population of 8 million over the decades), 1%, have died trying to escape Castro"s Cuba.http://townhall.com...

The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

At 4/18/2014 11:43:16 AM, monty1 wrote:The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

Stop hating, you'll feel much better about yourself.

"The majority of people on this site think you are a cheap debater, so I will not engage you. I encourage others to do the same"

At 4/18/2014 11:43:16 AM, monty1 wrote:The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

Your ignorance is showing. Cubans don't swim to the US, they take boats and/or visit/live in intermediate countries before coming to the US by plane, or in the case of my girlfriend's aunt: hiking and running across the Mexico-US border.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

For all the ills of the Batista regime, Cuba's economic output was on-par with Japan's. People wore nice clothes, drove new cars, ate well, industry was booming, immigration was the highest in the western hemisphere, Cuban music was at its prime... and then, wtf happened? Something around 1960 started to make the country shitty. Like people died from bullet wounds, the economy went to sh't, the awesome music creation largely stopped, people had to wait in line for food rations, prostitution increased, buildings started to decay, people were killed for trying to leave the country, and THEY ARE STILL DRIVING THE SAME CARS TODAY. It doesn't take a f*cking genius to tell which was worse.

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

You've never been to Cuba. The only statistics you could be referring to are UN statistics which come from the communist Cuban government. If you actually went to Cuba and saw where people get their food, how they live, and what freedoms they actually had, you wouldn't be defending the Cuban government.

At 4/18/2014 11:43:16 AM, monty1 wrote:The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

Your ignorance is showing. Cubans don't swim to the US, they take boats and/or visit/live in intermediate countries before coming to the US by plane, or in the case of my girlfriend's aunt: hiking and running across the Mexico-US border.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

For all the ills of the Batista regime, Cuba's economic output was on-par with Japan's. People wore nice clothes, drove new cars, ate well, industry was booming, immigration was the highest in the western hemisphere, Cuban music was at its prime... and then, wtf happened? Something around 1960 started to make the country shitty. Like people died from bullet wounds, the economy went to sh't, the awesome music creation largely stopped, people had to wait in line for food rations, prostitution increased, buildings started to decay, people were killed for trying to leave the country, and THEY ARE STILL DRIVING THE SAME CARS TODAY. It doesn't take a f*cking genius to tell which was worse.

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

You've never been to Cuba. The only statistics you could be referring to are UN statistics which come from the communist Cuban government. If you actually went to Cuba and saw where people get their food, how they live, and what freedoms they actually had, you wouldn't be defending the Cuban government.

CHALLENGE ME TO A DEBATE ON THIS TOPIC. I ENJOY EASY WINS.

I don't debate with Amerinazis in debates that will be judged by Amerinazis. Yup, been to Cuba 3 times and I know why they are still having a tough time. The US won't ease the sanctions because there's no way it can be seen that Cuba can make it under the revolution's government. But I've also been to Haiti and the D.R. and that's what real poverty in a banana republic looks like.

Cuba's health care system puts a different light on poverty. That's the cold hard truth for hateful americans. With that, can it even be called poverty? I've seen worse poverty in the US where people died for lack of high quality medical treatment.

And that's why revolutions happen. When will the teabagger revolution begin? You know they're wantin for it!

At 4/18/2014 11:43:16 AM, monty1 wrote:The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

Your ignorance is showing. Cubans don't swim to the US, they take boats and/or visit/live in intermediate countries before coming to the US by plane, or in the case of my girlfriend's aunt: hiking and running across the Mexico-US border.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

For all the ills of the Batista regime, Cuba's economic output was on-par with Japan's. People wore nice clothes, drove new cars, ate well, industry was booming, immigration was the highest in the western hemisphere, Cuban music was at its prime... and then, wtf happened? Something around 1960 started to make the country shitty. Like people died from bullet wounds, the economy went to sh't, the awesome music creation largely stopped, people had to wait in line for food rations, prostitution increased, buildings started to decay, people were killed for trying to leave the country, and THEY ARE STILL DRIVING THE SAME CARS TODAY. It doesn't take a f*cking genius to tell which was worse.

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

You've never been to Cuba. The only statistics you could be referring to are UN statistics which come from the communist Cuban government. If you actually went to Cuba and saw where people get their food, how they live, and what freedoms they actually had, you wouldn't be defending the Cuban government.

CHALLENGE ME TO A DEBATE ON THIS TOPIC. I ENJOY EASY WINS.

I don't debate with Amerinazis in debates that will be judged by Amerinazis. Yup, been to Cuba 3 times and I know why they are still having a tough time. The US won't ease the sanctions because there's no way it can be seen that Cuba can make it under the revolution's government. But I've also been to Haiti and the D.R. and that's what real poverty in a banana republic looks like.

Cuba's health care system puts a different light on poverty. That's the cold hard truth for hateful americans. With that, can it even be called poverty? I've seen worse poverty in the US where people died for lack of high quality medical treatment.

And that's why revolutions happen. When will the teabagger revolution begin? You know they're wantin for it!

You can't die for lack of high quality medical treatment in the US because you can NOT by law be denied medical treatment regardless of whether or not you have insurance or even money out of pocket to pay for it. For instance if you are a penniless hobo living in the streets and you need medical care cause you just had a heart attack a hospital MUST by law admit you and treat you.

At 4/18/2014 11:43:16 AM, monty1 wrote:The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

Your ignorance is showing. Cubans don't swim to the US, they take boats and/or visit/live in intermediate countries before coming to the US by plane, or in the case of my girlfriend's aunt: hiking and running across the Mexico-US border.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

For all the ills of the Batista regime, Cuba's economic output was on-par with Japan's. People wore nice clothes, drove new cars, ate well, industry was booming, immigration was the highest in the western hemisphere, Cuban music was at its prime... and then, wtf happened? Something around 1960 started to make the country shitty. Like people died from bullet wounds, the economy went to sh't, the awesome music creation largely stopped, people had to wait in line for food rations, prostitution increased, buildings started to decay, people were killed for trying to leave the country, and THEY ARE STILL DRIVING THE SAME CARS TODAY. It doesn't take a f*cking genius to tell which was worse.

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

You've never been to Cuba. The only statistics you could be referring to are UN statistics which come from the communist Cuban government. If you actually went to Cuba and saw where people get their food, how they live, and what freedoms they actually had, you wouldn't be defending the Cuban government.

CHALLENGE ME TO A DEBATE ON THIS TOPIC. I ENJOY EASY WINS.

I don't debate with Amerinazis in debates that will be judged by Amerinazis. Yup, been to Cuba 3 times and I know why they are still having a tough time. The US won't ease the sanctions because there's no way it can be seen that Cuba can make it under the revolution's government. But I've also been to Haiti and the D.R. and that's what real poverty in a banana republic looks like.

Cuba's health care system puts a different light on poverty. That's the cold hard truth for hateful americans. With that, can it even be called poverty? I've seen worse poverty in the US where people died for lack of high quality medical treatment.

And that's why revolutions happen. When will the teabagger revolution begin? You know they're wantin for it!

You can't die for lack of high quality medical treatment in the US because you can NOT by law be denied medical treatment regardless of whether or not you have insurance or even money out of pocket to pay for it. For instance if you are a penniless hobo living in the streets and you need medical care cause you just had a heart attack a hospital MUST by law admit you and treat you.

Right. You'll be taken into a hospital and nursed back to health. Then you will go back on the street with the same heart problems you went in with. Then you will die on the street.

In a system such as Cuba or others with universal health care the bum on the street gets the same top of the line care and treatment as the millionaire.

And don't pretend that's not true. In fact, don't pretend you want to see it any other way because you don't. You don't care about poor people and you would prefer to see them die as opposed to their bills coming out of your tax dollars. Right teabagger?

At 4/18/2014 11:43:16 AM, monty1 wrote:The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

Your ignorance is showing. Cubans don't swim to the US, they take boats and/or visit/live in intermediate countries before coming to the US by plane, or in the case of my girlfriend's aunt: hiking and running across the Mexico-US border.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

For all the ills of the Batista regime, Cuba's economic output was on-par with Japan's. People wore nice clothes, drove new cars, ate well, industry was booming, immigration was the highest in the western hemisphere, Cuban music was at its prime... and then, wtf happened? Something around 1960 started to make the country shitty. Like people died from bullet wounds, the economy went to sh't, the awesome music creation largely stopped, people had to wait in line for food rations, prostitution increased, buildings started to decay, people were killed for trying to leave the country, and THEY ARE STILL DRIVING THE SAME CARS TODAY. It doesn't take a f*cking genius to tell which was worse.

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

You've never been to Cuba. The only statistics you could be referring to are UN statistics which come from the communist Cuban government. If you actually went to Cuba and saw where people get their food, how they live, and what freedoms they actually had, you wouldn't be defending the Cuban government.

CHALLENGE ME TO A DEBATE ON THIS TOPIC. I ENJOY EASY WINS.

I don't debate with Amerinazis in debates that will be judged by Amerinazis. Yup, been to Cuba 3 times and I know why they are still having a tough time. The US won't ease the sanctions because there's no way it can be seen that Cuba can make it under the revolution's government. But I've also been to Haiti and the D.R. and that's what real poverty in a banana republic looks like.

Cuba's health care system puts a different light on poverty. That's the cold hard truth for hateful americans. With that, can it even be called poverty? I've seen worse poverty in the US where people died for lack of high quality medical treatment.

And that's why revolutions happen. When will the teabagger revolution begin? You know they're wantin for it!

You can't die for lack of high quality medical treatment in the US because you can NOT by law be denied medical treatment regardless of whether or not you have insurance or even money out of pocket to pay for it. For instance if you are a penniless hobo living in the streets and you need medical care cause you just had a heart attack a hospital MUST by law admit you and treat you.

Right. You'll be taken into a hospital and nursed back to health. Then you will go back on the street with the same heart problems you went in with. Then you will die on the street.

In a system such as Cuba or others with universal health care the bum on the street gets the same top of the line care and treatment as the millionaire.

And don't pretend that's not true. In fact, don't pretend you want to see it any other way because you don't. You don't care about poor people and you would prefer to see them die as opposed to their bills coming out of your tax dollars. Right teabagger?

What the fu(k lol. Aside from completely ignoring my comment that last paragraph of yours was way way out there. Your cute kid.

At 4/18/2014 11:43:16 AM, monty1 wrote:The US is 'trying' to destroy Cuba and starve the Cuban people but they haven't and never will. And by the way the US is going with it's income inequality it most likely will soon be Americans trying to swim to Cuba.

Your ignorance is showing. Cubans don't swim to the US, they take boats and/or visit/live in intermediate countries before coming to the US by plane, or in the case of my girlfriend's aunt: hiking and running across the Mexico-US border.

What kind of Nazis would support the evil Batista regime and not understand why revolution was necessary?

For all the ills of the Batista regime, Cuba's economic output was on-par with Japan's. People wore nice clothes, drove new cars, ate well, industry was booming, immigration was the highest in the western hemisphere, Cuban music was at its prime... and then, wtf happened? Something around 1960 started to make the country shitty. Like people died from bullet wounds, the economy went to sh't, the awesome music creation largely stopped, people had to wait in line for food rations, prostitution increased, buildings started to decay, people were killed for trying to leave the country, and THEY ARE STILL DRIVING THE SAME CARS TODAY. It doesn't take a f*cking genius to tell which was worse.

Compare Cuba with an other banana republics and Cuba is doing fine, even with the cruel US sanctions against the people. compare Cuba without the sanctions and it's would be a booming tourist loved tropical paradise.

You've never been to Cuba. The only statistics you could be referring to are UN statistics which come from the communist Cuban government. If you actually went to Cuba and saw where people get their food, how they live, and what freedoms they actually had, you wouldn't be defending the Cuban government.

CHALLENGE ME TO A DEBATE ON THIS TOPIC. I ENJOY EASY WINS.

I don't debate with Amerinazis in debates that will be judged by Amerinazis. Yup, been to Cuba 3 times and I know why they are still having a tough time. The US won't ease the sanctions because there's no way it can be seen that Cuba can make it under the revolution's government. But I've also been to Haiti and the D.R. and that's what real poverty in a banana republic looks like.

Cuba's health care system puts a different light on poverty. That's the cold hard truth for hateful americans. With that, can it even be called poverty? I've seen worse poverty in the US where people died for lack of high quality medical treatment.

And that's why revolutions happen. When will the teabagger revolution begin? You know they're wantin for it!

You can't die for lack of high quality medical treatment in the US because you can NOT by law be denied medical treatment regardless of whether or not you have insurance or even money out of pocket to pay for it. For instance if you are a penniless hobo living in the streets and you need medical care cause you just had a heart attack a hospital MUST by law admit you and treat you.

Right. You'll be taken into a hospital and nursed back to health. Then you will go back on the street with the same heart problems you went in with. Then you will die on the street.

In a system such as Cuba or others with universal health care the bum on the street gets the same top of the line care and treatment as the millionaire.

And don't pretend that's not true. In fact, don't pretend you want to see it any other way because you don't. You don't care about poor people and you would prefer to see them die as opposed to their bills coming out of your tax dollars. Right teabagger?

What the fu(k lol. Aside from completely ignoring my comment that last paragraph of yours was way way out there. Your cute kid.

Ignoring your babbling and bringing you back to reality is the most effective way of dealing with people like you.

What can I say when high profile politicians like Harkin thinks good of Cuba? And then, some of us are allowed to go to Cuba so we can get the first hand look! some live behind a curtain of fear and loathing and are kept insulated from communist governments because their country can't trust them. Tear down those walls mr. Obama!! Love ya too little darling.

What can I say when high profile politicians like Harkin thinks good of Cuba? And then, some of us are allowed to go to Cuba so we can get the first hand look! some live behind a curtain of fear and loathing and are kept insulated from communist governments because their country can't trust them. Tear down those walls mr. Obama!! Love ya too little darling.

What can I say when high profile politicians like Harkin thinks good of Cuba? And then, some of us are allowed to go to Cuba so we can get the first hand look! some live behind a curtain of fear and loathing and are kept insulated from communist governments because their country can't trust them. Tear down those walls mr. Obama!! Love ya too little darling.

Of course I didn't read the full article. I didn't even read par tof it but I saw Harkin's name in the headline. Marco Rubio is anti-Cuban and would talk down on Cuba because he's found a better life style in the US. But the fact remains, Cuba has it over other banana republics and that's how the comparison has to be made. Like I said, the health care luxury in Cuba puts an entirely different face on poverty.

But you would relate to that would you. People dying in the streets instead of being saved in a hospital is the furthest thing from your selfish mind.

At 4/17/2014 1:17:27 PM, monty1 wrote:Are you seriously trying to argue down Cuba's health care system, it's lower infant mortality rate, it's high standard of education, it's clean water and high level of sanitation??? If you're not completely mad then you haven't taken the time to look at Cuba's statistical success! Compare Cuba's success with most other banana republics such as Haiti. Which all incidentally, aren't involved in a fight to survive cruel and punishing US sanctions.

I just read this post to my girlfriend's family and they laughed. "They can't afford to be sanitary," her mother said. They are all from Cuba and took various routes to escape: her father to a boat with some of his military friends to Miami; her grandfather went to Spain and then to NY and eventually Florida, her aunt went to Spain, couldn't get into America, went to Mexico and got into Texas, and eventually Florida.

Sorry, I'm going to trust the director of the World Health Organization (Feinsilver, Julie M. (1989). "Cuba as a 'World Medical Power': The Politics of Symbolism". Latin American Research Review 24 (2): 1"34. JSTOR 2503679.) and the New England Journal of Medicine (http://www.nejm.org...)

It's true, there have been some challenges. But the sanctions on Cuba hit it hard, that's why they were put in place to begin with--pre-revolution Cuba had an economy that depended on the USA, about 75% of its... exports, I think, were directed at the USA.

Man, some Americans are so full of hate for other people that it makes them crazy!

I'm in love with a Cuban woman. I hate the Cuban government, because they basically destroyed a beautiful, vibrant country, but I love Cuban food and music.

A good measure to observe if a country is good to live in or not is the amount of people entering or leaving. prior to Castro"s Stalinist coup in 1959, Cuba took in more immigrants (primarily from Europe) as a percentage of population than did the U.S., including the Ellis Island years. In the 1950"s, when Cubans were perfectly free to emigrate with all their property and U.S. visas were issued to them for the asking, fewer Cubans lived in the U.S. than Americans lived in Cuba.

"I can see that Cuba is much more impoverished than Haiti," observed Gelsy Lav"que, a recent Haitian visitor to Cuba. "People here in Cuba are all sad. I watch on Cuban TV how they say Haitians are all poor. But in reality we"re less poor than Cubans. Yes, my family is poor but we have a car. We"re never hungry and were free and generally happy. Cubans, come to Haiti, we have a country much better and happier than yours."

Some perspective: Between two and three hundred people (out of an average population over the decades of 18 million), .00138%, died trying to breach the Berlin Wall or otherwise escape East Germany"no runner-up in the "quality-of-life" awards, even by Newsweek standards.

Well, between sixty-five and eighty thousand people (out of an average population of 8 million over the decades), 1%, have died trying to escape Castro"s Cuba.http://townhall.com...

Leaving aside your plagarism (again), do you have any evidence besides conservative news sites? Moreover, the point being discussed here is not overall quality of life, it is specific subsets, as well as relating Cuba to neighboring countries.

At 4/17/2014 2:04:30 AM, Wallstreetatheist wrote:

At 4/17/2014 12:53:32 AM, Citrakayah wrote:1. If you're going to say that economic freedom is correlated with those things, you should include a citation.

What can I say when high profile politicians like Harkin thinks good of Cuba? And then, some of us are allowed to go to Cuba so we can get the first hand look! some live behind a curtain of fear and loathing and are kept insulated from communist governments because their country can't trust them. Tear down those walls mr. Obama!! Love ya too little darling.

Of course I didn't read the full article. I didn't even read par tof it but I saw Harkin's name in the headline. Marco Rubio is anti-Cuban and would talk down on Cuba because he's found a better life style in the US. But the fact remains, Cuba has it over other banana republics and that's how the comparison has to be made. Like I said, the health care luxury in Cuba puts an entirely different face on poverty.

But you would relate to that would you. People dying in the streets instead of being saved in a hospital is the furthest thing from your selfish mind.

The ad hominem there is a bit unnecessary, light teasing is okay, saying I make your stomach turn and calling me selfish is attempting to divert people's attention to my personal qualities or your opinion of me rather than the discussion at hand. Although I do take pride in my ideology of libertarianism and being 'selfish', so feel free to call me that, it's more a badge of honor than an insult.

At any rate, the article points out that Harkin's experience in Cuba was nothing more than a dog and pony show, where he wittingly made himself a pawn on Cuba's propaganda chess board, when the Rubio took him to task and pointed out the facts, the truth was revealed.

Also, it is understandable that Cuba might be a model for other banana republic's, but it's still a banana republic nonetheless, it wasn't under Batista, it was a prosperous country that had a higher european immigration rate than the US, and since Castro took over, nearly 80,000 people have died trying to escape it.

What can I say when high profile politicians like Harkin thinks good of Cuba? And then, some of us are allowed to go to Cuba so we can get the first hand look! some live behind a curtain of fear and loathing and are kept insulated from communist governments because their country can't trust them. Tear down those walls mr. Obama!! Love ya too little darling.

Of course I didn't read the full article. I didn't even read par tof it but I saw Harkin's name in the headline. Marco Rubio is anti-Cuban and would talk down on Cuba because he's found a better life style in the US. But the fact remains, Cuba has it over other banana republics and that's how the comparison has to be made. Like I said, the health care luxury in Cuba puts an entirely different face on poverty.

But you would relate to that would you. People dying in the streets instead of being saved in a hospital is the furthest thing from your selfish mind.

The ad hominem there is a bit unnecessary, light teasing is okay, saying I make your stomach turn and calling me selfish is attempting to divert people's attention to my personal qualities or your opinion of me rather than the discussion at hand. Although I do take pride in my ideology of libertarianism and being 'selfish', so feel free to call me that, it's more a badge of honor than an insult.

At any rate, the article points out that Harkin's experience in Cuba was nothing more than a dog and pony show, where he wittingly made himself a pawn on Cuba's propaganda chess board, when the Rubio took him to task and pointed out the facts, the truth was revealed.

Also, it is understandable that Cuba might be a model for other banana republic's, but it's still a banana republic nonetheless, it wasn't under Batista, it was a prosperous country that had a higher european immigration rate than the US, and since Castro took over, nearly 80,000 people have died trying to escape it.

I think you have amply demonstrated your character on your other thread about Cuba's health care system. You're apparently full of hate and loathing for Cuba because it has stood up to the US sanctions.

Revolutions can only happen and then become successful revolutions when the people are amply aggrieved to make them happen. The corrupt US enforced Batista regime made it happen.

And I should have also noted that there's a lot of talk about revolution in the US by people who are amply aggrieved. My other thread on income inequality in the US will tell you why. When will you have your next American revolution? Maybe when Obamacare is killed by the rabid right? Possible. LOL